Over several years UAFC has sought to serve and entertain the Rugby Loving supporters of the Nine Counties of Ulster. The board has always sought to be a lively and robust forum where posters can express their views openly. We have operated a "light touch" brand of moderation preferring to warn and caution and have only banned where absolutely necessary.

The success of the team off the pitch has, understandably, led to a significant increase in membership. Sadly, some posters have joined as a pretext to "sell their wares" whilst others have been more sinister in seeking to cause offence and upset. The vast majority of posters have nothing more than a love of Ulster Rugby and we would like to assure them and all posters that this board will continue to be Moderated actively. We have added to the moderator staff to ensure that this is the case.

* Following the Brookes Judgement in the High Court of England we must point out to all users that Internet "Trolling" and malicious "Wumming" will not be tolerated on the site. Vigorous exchange of views and "banter" between posters should remain unchanged. However, we would encourage all users when posting to consider how their posts may come across to other users. As a statement of "policy" we expect posters in their replies to "play the ball and not the man". Argue the case without getting personal about it. On the flip side, Moderators have been advised that those who persistently "WUM" in order to stir or wind up other site users should be dealt with robustly.This type of behaviour will be clamped down on as soon as moderators are aware of it, and will be an exception to the three strike policy as described below.

We would ask that all posters new and old read the following guidelines. We stress that these are guidelines only. They are not set in stone and will be applied sensitively on a case by case basis.

Forum rules

1. Posts are to be made in the relevant forum. Users are asked to read the forum descriptions before posting. Users consistently posting to the wrong forum may be given a warning (see policing below). If members wish to post off-topic, please use 'The Back Room 'Lock In'', a forum designed for this type of 'chat'.2. Members should post in a way that is respectful of other users. Flaming or abusing users in any way will not be tolerated and will lead to a warning.3. Members are asked to not act as "back seat moderators". If members note an issue which contravenes something in this policy document they are welcome to bring it to the attention of a member of the Moderator team . Members who consistently "act" as moderators may be warned.4. Members should remember this board is aimed at a general audience. Posting pornographic or generally offensive text, images, links, etc. will not be tolerated and will lead to a warning.5. Members are asked to respect the copyright of other users, sites, media, etc. Users linking to or asking for information on illegal material without permission will receive a warning and their post will be removed.6. Members should respect the bandwidth of other users and sites. The use of inline () image tags pointing to data stored on third party systems for which the user has not received permission to link to may be removed.7. Members should post in a way which is consistent with "normal writing", although mobile phone speak is allowed in the skules forum only. That is users should not post excessive numbers of emoticons, large, small or coloured text, etc. Similarly users should not SHOUT or use excessive punctuation (e.g. ! and ?) in topic titles or posts. Users consistently abusing this will be warned.8. Members should use an appropriate, descriptive title when posting a new topic. Examples of bad titles include; "Help me!", "I'm stuck!", etc.9. Spam is not tolerated here under any circumstance. This includes offering hosting services (charged and free), installation services, etc. Users posting spam will be warned and their post removed. See specific item on spam and 3rd party linking for more information.10. Members are asked to not disclose to any 3rd party, board, or list any vulnerabilities in the UAFC MB before first notifying the developers. You should submit all finds to the TECHNOBABBLE forum. Time should be allowed for us, at least 3 working days wherever possible, to respond.11. The moderating, support and other teams reserve the right to edit or remove any post at any time. The determination of what is construed as indecent, vulgar, spam, etc. as noted in these points is up to Team Members and not users.12. The above forum rules where applicable also apply to private messaging. Abuse of the private messaging system may lead to warnings (as above) and/or the revocation of private messaging.

Signatures1. Signatures may contain up to five lines (one line being that displayed on a browser opened to 800px width) of text (of small or normal size) and/or one image, valid combinations include; a single image of no more than 60px high , 468px wide and 6kB (6000 Bytes) in size . Signatures containing an image this large may also include one line of small size text. Signatures containing an image of 30px high may include up to three lines of small size text or two lines of normal size text. Images of 15px height or less may allow up to three lines of normal size text or four lines of small size text. Animated images are not allowed.2. Text sizes should be between 9 and 12 (small and normal). Text in signatures is subject to the same conditions as posts with respect decency, warez, emoticons, and so forth.3. Links in signatures are permitted to a maximum of 2 unique pages or sites. Such links may only be to http://www.UAFC.co.uk" or approved material. Linked sites may not be commercial in nature. You may not include links in a way which suggests you offer official support, material, etc. for http://www.UAFC.co.uk". You may not link to warez, porn or political, racist or other similar hate sites. Links are included in signature size limits.4. Users abusing these rules will be warned.

Avatars1. Users are permitted to utilise a gallery avatar or to link to one of their own (subject to previous points on misuse of bandwidth). User defined avatars are to be no larger than 100 pixels square , can contain animation, contain no image which attempts to portray the user as having an official status here (e.g. mimiking ranks or copying avatars of team members), may not exceed 8kB (8000 Bytes) in filesize and have a consistently high availability (i.e. links to images on slow servers or those prone to failure may be removed).2. Avatars are subject to the same conditions as posts with respect decency, and so forth.3. Users abusing these rules will be warned and/or may lose their avatar privileges

Linking offsite1. Members may include or post links to 3rd party sites in an effort to provide information relevant to a topic. Members are not permitted to post links to material unsuitable for the UAFC or where linked material is not relevant to a given topic.

Show Off1. The UAFC no longer provides a general solution for users to promote their sites. Users may not promote their sites through their own posts. Such posting constitutes spam and may lead to a warning.

AdvertisingCommercial organisations, businesses or other persons wishing to advertise at http://www.UAFC.co.uk" should get in touch by email in the first instance using the ‘advertise with us’ link. Unsolicited advertising will result in a ban, ad removal of posts/topic.

PolicingThe http://www.UAFC.co.uk" message board will operate a three strike policy*. Users will be warned a maximum of three times for any and all offences in a three month period. If the need arises for a fourth warning a temporary ban will be put in place of between 1 to 30 days or a permanent ban will be imposed if the misdemeanour is serious enough.

1. Arguing with team members after having received a warning will lead to an immediate additional warning. Should this exceed three strikes a temporary ban will be put in place as above.2. Users who feel they have been unfairly warned are welcome to contact either 'UAFCAdmin' or 'The Fonz’ in the 1st instance depending on who implemented the warning. If they feel you were treated badly they can remove a warning. If you feel their decision is also unfair you may contact 'fermain'. His decision is final. Contacting group members over warning matters should be done so as a very last resort ... group members do not want to be bothered unless vital.3. Any attempt to circumvent a temporary ban will lead to that ban being made permanent. Circumvention includes re-registering under a non-banned username, changing IP addresses to evade an IP ban, registering a new email account to evade an email ban. Circumvention includes posting as an anonymous user.4. An exception to the three strike rule applies when users contact team members personally (via any method) and post insulting, bigoted, racist, indecent or vulgar material. Such users may be subject to an immediate permanent ban.5. Permanent bans are a last resort and thought is given before implementing them. While http://www.UAFC.co.uk" may consider lifting permanent bans from time to time this is a rare occurrence.

"Remember lads, there's no retreat. No more talk now. Just make peace with yourselves."

We've always liked to excercise a light touch when it comes to moderating the UAFC. But over recent weeks and months some have used this to their advantage and gradually become more and more unpleasant to their fellow posters in the belief that because it was not punished at the time it was somehow acceptable behaviour. I would like to draw peoples attention to the rules posted by fermain above particularly numbers 2 and 4. We are very happy for folk to debate the merits and demerits of any opinion but once the debate descends into attacking the poster rather than the opinion it has overstepped the mark.

We aren't trying to stifle playful banter but we are intent on cutting out the abuse. If we deem posts or threads to be offensive or abusive we will delete them as we see fit. Ultimately if you won't play by the rules you will be temporarily or even permanently banned.